Shipping Forecast

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The Shipping Forecast is a regular feature of BBC Radio 4 (part of the BBC) and is provided by the UK Meteorological Office (part of MoD) on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (part of Department for Transport). Because of its unique and distinctive sound, it has an appeal much wider than to those solely interested in nautical weather, and is regarded with iconic affection by many listeners. It is broadcast four times a day and consists of reports and forecasts of weather for the seas around the coasts of Britain and Ireland.

The waters around the British Isles are divided into sea areas, also known as weather areas (see map below).

There are four broadcasts per day:

  • 0048 - transmitted on FM and LW. Includes weather reports from coastal stations at 0051, an inshore waters forecast at 0053 and further weather reports at 0055. The broadcast finishes at approximately 0058, and is followed by a short goodnight message and the closedown of the station for the night.
  • 0520 - transmitted on FM and LW. Includes weather reports from coastal stations at 0025, and an inshore waters forecast at 0027.
  • 1201 - transmitted on longwave only.
  • 1754 - transmitted on longwave only on weekdays when it comprises an opt-out from the PM programme on FM. However, the differing weekend schedules mean it is transmitted on both FM and Longwave at weekends.

See also List of coastal weather stations of the United Kingdom.

Contents

[edit] Region names

Map of Sea Areas and Coastal Weather Stations referred to in the Shipping Forecast.
Enlarge
Map of Sea Areas and Coastal Weather Stations referred to in the Shipping Forecast.

Here are the sea areas covering the waters around the British Isles:

The areas were roughly in the shape described above by 1949. Modifications after that include the introduction of Fisher in 1955, when Dogger was split in two. Heligoland was renamed German Bight the year later. In around 1983 the Minches sea area was merged with Hebrides.[citation needed]

In 1984, the areas in the North Sea were coordinated with those of other neighbouring countries, introducing North Utsire and South Utsire and reducing Viking in size. Finisterre was renamed FitzRoy in 2002 to avoid confusion with the Spanish area of the same name.[1]

In the forecast, areas are named in a roughly clockwise direction, strictly following the order above. However, a forecast for Trafalgar is found only in the 0048 forecast - other forecasts do, however, report when there are warnings of gales in Trafalgar.

[edit] Broadcast format

The forecast has a very strict format:

  • It begins with "And now the Shipping Forecast, issued by the Met Office on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency at xx:xx today.". This normally follows this strict format, although some continuity announcers may read out the actual date of issue as opposed to the word "today".
  • Gale warnings (winds of force 8 or more, on the Beaufort scale), if any (e.g. There are warnings of gales in Rockall, Malin, Hebrides, Bailey, and Fair Isle). This sometimes follows the opposite format (e.g. There are warnings of gales in all areas except Biscay, Trafalgar and FitzRoy).
  • The General Synopsis follows, giving the position, pressure (in millibars) and track of pressure areas (e.g. Low, Rockall, 987, deepening rapidly, expected Fair Isle 964 by 0700 tomorrow).
  • Each area's forecast is then read out. Several areas may be combined into a single forecast where the conditions are expected to be similar. Wind direction is given first, then strength (on the Beaufort scale), followed by precipitation, if any, and (usually) lastly visibility.
  • Change in wind direction is indicated by veering (clockwise change) or backing (anticlockwise change). Winds of above force 8 are also described by name for emphasis. e.g. Gale Force 8, Severe Gale force 9, Storm force 10, Violent Storm force 11 and Hurricane force 12. (See Beaufort scale).
  • Visibility is given in the format Good meaning that the visibility is greater than 5 nautical miles; Moderate where visibility is between 2 and 5 nautical miles; Poor where visibility is between 1000 metres and 2 nautical miles and Fog where visibility is less than 1000 metres.
  • When severe winter cold combines with strong winds and a cold sea, icing can occur, normally only in sea area Southeast Iceland; if expected, icing warnings (light, moderate or severe) are given as the last item of each sea area forecast.

The forecast has a maximum length of 350 words.

In addition, gale warnings are broadcast at other times between programmes and after news; for example That was the news, and now 'attention all shipping', especially in sea areas German Bight and Humber: The Met Office issued the following gale warning to shipping at 2206 today. German Bight, west or northwest gale 8 to storm 10, expected imminent. Humber, west gale 8 or severe gale 9, expected soon. That completes the gale warning.

When giving a gale warning the Met Office will indicate a time interval for when they expect the gale to occur. Imminent means that a gale is expected within 6 hours, Expected soon that a gale is expected within 6 to 12 hours and Later in more than 12 hours time.

Examples of area forecasts:

  • Humber, Thames. Southeast veering southwest 4 or 5, occasionally 6 later. Thundery showers. Moderate or good, occasionally poor.
  • Tyne, Dogger. Northeast 3 or 4. Occasional rain. Moderate or poor.
  • Rockall, Malin, Hebrides. Southwest gale 8 to storm 10, veering west, severe gale 9 to violent storm 11. Rain, then squally showers. Poor, becoming moderate.
  • Southeast Iceland. North 7 to severe gale 9. Heavy snow showers. Good, becoming poor in showers. Moderate icing.

And most spectacularly, on 10 January 1993, when a record North Atlantic low pressure of 913 mB was recorded:

  • Rockall, Malin, Hebrides, Bailey. Southwest hurricane force 12 or more.
Icing can be a dangerous problem for ships; accurate forecasting can save lives by ensuring crews are prepared
Enlarge
Icing can be a dangerous problem for ships; accurate forecasting can save lives by ensuring crews are prepared

With the information provided in the Shipping Forecast it is perfectly possible to compile (and then interpret) a pressure chart for the coasts of North Western Europe. Extended shipping forecasts (0520 and 0048) also include weather reports from a list of additional coastal stations and automatic weather logging stations, which are known by their names, such as "Channel Light Vessel Automatic". These are the Coastal Weather Stations. This additional information does not fall within the 350 word restriction. (RTÉ Radio 1 broadcasts similar coastal reports for Ireland). Other maritime countries also use sea area maps but with local variations. For instance, the area that the British forecasts call Dover is referred to by the French as Pas-de-Calais.

[edit] Frequencies

The reason for choosing BBC Radio 4 for the Shipping Forecast is not simply because it is a speech-based channel, but also because it broadcasts via longwave on 198 kHz as well as FM, and the longwave signal can be received clearly at sea all around the British Isles. For this reason, until 1978 the Shipping Forecast was broadcast on the Light Programme and then BBC Radio 2, as they broadcast on longwave (200 kHz) and at those times the BBC Home Service and Radio 4 were on medium wave. The frequency changed to 198kHz in 1989 when frequencies were standardised accross Europe.

[edit] Before closedown

The last broadcast of the Shipping Forecast at 0048 each day is traditionally preceded by the playing of the musical piece Sailing By, a mellow string arrangement by Ronald Binge. This is only very rarely omitted, generally when the schedule is running late. Sailing By serves as a "buffer" to ensure mildly late running schedules do not impinge on the late forecast, as well as being a vital identification tool - it is distinctive and as such assists anyone attempting to tune in. The forecast is then followed by the National anthem and the closedown of the station for the day, with the BBC World Service taking over the frequencies after the BBC Pips at 0100.

[edit] Vocal characteristics

The Shipping Forecast is intended to be read at dictation speed to aid those who wish to write down the information, although recent changes to the schedule have resulted in generic weather presenters reading the forecast in the early morning, which can mean dictation speed is not always adhered to.

Part of the Shipping Forecast's charm is that it is read by continuity announcers who are selected for their pleasant sounding voices and clear diction. The evocation is enhanced by the fact that stormy weather is always announced first, with the introduction "There are warnings of gales in...." directing the listener's thoughts to the ships in those areas, and the people whose lives might depend on the following words. Many listeners to the 0048 and 0520 forecasts find it comforting that they are safely tucked up in bed while there is stormy weather at sea.

[edit] Influences on popular culture

Due to its set rhythm, calm enunciation, and list of characteristic names from around Britain, the Shipping Forecast can sound quite poetic when broadcast. It is perhaps not surprising that it has featured in songs and poetry as a result.

"This Is a Low" on Blur's album Parklife includes the lyrics:

On the Tyne, Forth and Cromarty
There's a low in the high Forties

The song also contains references to Biscay, Dogger, Thames ("Hit traffic on the Dogger bank / Up the Thames to find a taxi rank") and Malin.

Radiohead uses lyrics relating to the Shipping Forecast in its song "In Limbo" to represent a theme of being lost:

Lundy, Fastnet, Irish Sea
I've got a message I can't read

Frank Muir and Denis Norden parodied the Shipping Forecast in a song written for an episode of Take It From Here:

In Ross and Finisterre
The outlook is sinisterre
Rockall and Lundy
Will clear up by Monday

Other popular artists who have used samples of the Shipping Forecast include Andy White who added the forecast to the track "The Whole Love Story" to create a very nostalgic, cosy and soporific sound, highly evocative of the British Isles; Tears for Fears, whose track "Pharaohs" (a play on the name of the sea area "Faeroes") is a setting of the forecast to a mixture of mellow music and sound effects; and Thomas Dolby, who included a shipping forecast read by BBC's John Marsh on the track "Windpower". "The Good Ship Lifestyle", a track on the album Tubthumper by Chumbawumba, starts out with a listing of the sea areas — in the wrong order, however. British DJ Rob Overseer's album Wreckage has a final track entitled "Heligoland," where the Shipping Forecast surrealistically alternates between reporting the weather and the emotional states of an individual. The band British Sea Power entitled a b-side of their Please Stand Up single "Gales Warnings in Viking North". Beck includes a 27-second sample five minutes into the track "The Horrible Fanfare, Landslide, Exoskeleton" on the album "The Information".

Seamus Heaney wrote a sonnet "The Shipping Forecast", which opens:

Dogger, Rockall, Malin, Irish Sea:
Green, swift upsurges, North Atlantic flux
Conjured by that strong gale-warming voice,
Collapse into a sibilant penumbra.

The Carol Ann Duffy poem "Prayer" finishes with the lines:

Darkness outside. Inside, the radio's prayer —
Rockall. Malin. Dogger. Finisterre.

A recitation of the Shipping Forecast by actor Peter Serafinowicz features prominently in the Black Books episode "The Big Lock-Out".

The Shipping Forecast has also inspired writing, painting and photographic collections, notably Charlie Connelly's Attention All Shipping: A Journey Round The Shipping Forecast, Mark Power and David Chandler's The Shipping Forecast, and Peter Collyer's Rain Later, Good. Their critical and commercial success is a tribute both to the time and energy people are willing to invest in artistic projects inspired by the shipping forecast, and the warmth with which the public regard this regular radio announcement.

In the BBC TV show As Time Goes By, the housekeeper of the house in Hampshire (Mrs Bale) occasionally mentions the Shipping Forecast.

Geoff Lloyd's show on Virgin Radio includes a feature called The Shitting Forecast, in which listeners are invited to call in and say what they have eaten during the day, and their bowel movements are predicted in the style of the Shipping Forecast.

Dead Ringers parodied the Shipping Forecast using Brian Perkins rapping the forecast. Many other versions have been used including a "Dale Warning" to warn where Dale Winton could be found over the coming period.

Gavin Bryars's "A Man In A Room, Gambling" (1997), was written on a commission from BBC Radio 3. The ten shorts work was played on Radio 3 without any introductory announcements, and Bryars is quoted as saying that he hoped they would appear to the listener in a similar way to the shipping forecast, both mysterious and accepted without question. Bryars's music is heard beneath monologues in a the same format of the forecasts.

Terence Davies' film Distant Voices, Still Lives, a largely autobiographical account of growing up in Liverpool during the 1940's and '50's, opens with a shipping forecast from this period.

In the book A Kestrel for a Knave and its film Kes the shipping forecast is featured in the classroom register roll call when lead character Billy Casper calls out German Bight after the teacher reads out the name of a pupil called Fisher. (Author Barry Hines erroneously has Billy then say that Cromarty follows German Bight.)

All the characters in the cartoon Portland Bill were named after shipping areas or coastal weather stations, with two exceptions - Eddy Stone, named after a lighthouse, and Ross, presumably so called as he was the best friend of the character Cromarty (a former Scottish county was called Ross & Cromarty).

There is a popular method rung on church bells entitled "Shipping Forecast Singles". It was composed by Sam Austin and the first peal of Shipping Forecast Singles was rung in 2004 at St John the Baptist, Middleton, Warwickshire

Stephen Fry, in his 1988 radio program Saturday Night Fry, issued the following "Shipping Forecast" in the first episode of the program:

And now, before the news and weather, here is the Shipping Forecast issued by the Meteorological Office at 1400 hours Greenwich Mean Time. Finisterre, Dogger, Rockall, Bailey: no. Wednesday: variable, immanent, super. South Utsire, North Utsire, Sheerness, Foulness, Elliotness. If you will: often, eminent, 447, 22 yards, touchdown, stupidly. Malin, Hebrides, Shetland, Jersey, Fair Isle, turtleneck, tank top, Kotel (?): blowy, quite misty, seasickness. Not many fish around, come home, veering suggestively.
That was the Shipping Forecast for 1700 hours, wednesday the 18th of August."

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1798629.stm and http://www.metoffice.com/corporate/pressoffice/2002/pr20020131.html

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links

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